Nitish takes oath as Bihar CM again, 2 Deputies from BJP

New Delhi: It was a show of strength for the BJP as JDU's Nitish Kumar was sworn-in on Monday as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the fourth time in a row and seventh time in two decades.

The 69-year-old was administered the oath of office at Raj Bhavan by Governor Phagu Chauhan in presence of top leaders of the NDA, including Union Home minister Amit Shah and BJP's national president JP Nadda.

Besides Kumar, a total of 14 ministers also took the oath, including two Deputy Chief Ministers — Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi from BJP.

The ministers from JDU quota include Vijendra Yadav, Vijay Choudhary, Ashok Choudhary, Mewalal Choudhary and Sheela Mandal, while ministers from the BJP are Mangal Pandey, Rampreet Paswan, Amrendra Pratap Singh, Jivesh Mishra and Ramsurat Rai.

Santosh Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Mukesh Sahani of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) have also been inducted into the Nitish Cabinet.

The BJP has replicated its Uttar Pradesh model in Bihar by appointing two Deputy CMs in the state. Senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav would be appointed as the Assembly Speaker.

Soon after Nitish took the oath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him and tweeted: "Congratulations to Nitish Kumar Ji on taking oath as Bihar's CM. I also congratulate all those who took oath as ministers in the Bihar government. The NDA family will work together for the progress of Bihar. I assure all possible support from the Centre for the welfare of Bihar."

Notably, Nitish Kumar, who is Chief Minister in the state since November 2005, except for the period in 2014-15 when Jitan Ram Manjhi had replaced him, is set to become the longest-serving CM by surpassing the record of Shrikrishna Singh.

As per party insiders, the reason behind sidelining Sushil Kumar Modi is linked to BJP MLA's rebellion against him in 2008 for supporting Nitish Kumar's anti-BJP decisions as the party was in minority.

In the Assembly of 243, BJP has 74 MLAs, JD(U) has 43, HAM and VIP have four MLAs each making a total tally of 125, which is above the halfway mark of 122. One Independent has also supported Kumar.

Earlier in the day, RJD had put out a statement on its Twitter handle announcing that they would boycott the ceremony as "the public gave the mandate to change which is against the NDA."